Ha Noi copies HCM City furniture-design expo

HCM CITY (VNS) — After many years of success in HCM City, the organisers of the Viet Nam Furniture and Home Furnishing Fair (VIFA Home) will hold a similar fair in Ha Noi for the first time in August.

To be called "VIFA Home Sai Gon", the fair is expected to attract 110 exhibitors from the southern region and northern traditional villages who will display products at 420 booths, said Huynh Van Hanh, standing vice chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa).

"VIFA Home Sai Gon will provide a platform for businesses in the wood processing industry to strengthen co-operation to improve their competitiveness and distribution system, enabling them to gain a firm foothold in the home market before the ASEAN Economic Community comes into effect by the end of the year," Hanh said.

To be held at the National Exhibition Construction Centre in Tu Liem District from August 6 to 9, the fair will feature a wide range of outdoor and indoor wooden furniture, handicrafts and home decor, garden decor, consulting services for architecture and construction designs and other support services.

Hawa and Hawa Corp, the organisers of the fair, will launch an online showroom to help businesses introduce their products to customers at lower costs, Hanh said.

All wooden products are made from legal timber sources and meet export standards, providing more choices for customers in the north, where Chinese furniture products are popular, Hanh said.

Sales of wooden products in the domestic market reached an estimated US$1.98 billion last year and are expected to be worth more than $2 billion this year, he said.

Exports of wood and wood products were worth $1.52 billion in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 5.5 per cent over the same period last year, and are expected to top $7.2 billion this year. — VNS